Circuit breaker



E. A. MILLER CIRCUIT BREAKER Dec. 9, 1958 Filed Nair. 4, 1957 INVENTOREUGENE A. MILLER FIG United States Patent ()fiice 2,863,970 PatentedDec. 9, 1958 CIRCUIT BREAKER Eugene A. Miller, Seattle, Wash.

Application November 4, 1957, Serial N 0. 694,370

2 Claims. (Cl. 200-163) This invention relates to a circuit breaker and,more particularly, to switching means in combination with a firewall onan internal-combustion engine-driven vehicle for effectively breakingthe circuit between the vehicles storage battery and other electricalequipment.

During the operation of a motor vehicle vibration sets in and this,together with normal wear and failure of electrical installations, oftencreates dangerous shorts in the wiring system that on many occasionshave been the cause of serious fires. Because the battery terminals aretightly gripped by clamps atthe end of conductor wires and usually noother switching means is provided an operator, in the face of such araging fire at the engine, is practically helpless to disconnect theelectrical system to effectively isolate the cause of ignition for sucha fire.

It is among the salient objects of this invention to provide, incombination with a firewall of an internalcombustion engine-drivenvehicle, a switching means which is accessible to an operator on thatside of the firewall away from the engine but which is disposed on theside of the wall facing the engine; to provide means for breaking thehigh-voltage circuit of a' motor vehicle at the battery source of powerto the same extent as though the battery was disconnected; to provideswitching means or circuit breaking means which is manually operated indirect fashion from the interior of the vehicle at a position close tothat normally occupied by the driver and without requiring like or cableoperating means for accomplishing the break in the circuit; and toprovide means accomplishing other objects which will be more apparentduring the course of the following description.

Having in mind the foregoing and other objects, my invention isessentially found in the combination with the firewall of aninternal-combustion engine-driven vehicle having a guide porttherethrough of non-conductive means to receive and retain a guidedmember for sliding movement. This member on that end nearest the enginecarries a contact blade that, upon being pushed forward, spans a gapbetween a pair of spaced apart metallic jaw members supported by anon-conductive bridge that spans the guide member. With each of the jawmembers an electrical conductor is associated and these two electricalconductors constitute a primary lead in the high voltage circuit of amotor vehicle.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a schematic view partially in section showing my circuitbreaker in position in a motor vehicle;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view through a portion of a motorvehicle firewall and along the vertical axis of my circuit breaker;

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 33 of Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on line 44 of Figure 2.

In the drawings I have shown a preferred embodiment of this invention,the firewall is normally disposed vertically above and forward of thefloor 12 and obsoured by the instrument panel 14 of cowl 16 beneath thewindshield 18 from which forwardly extends the hood 20 of the vehicle. Abattery 22 having a ground lead 24 also has a primary conductor 26 atthe opposite principal terminal. The circuit breaker, indicated as awhole by the numeral 28, is mounted in and on the firewall 10 andcompletes a circuit between conductor 26 and conductor 30.

Firewall 10 includes the port 11 into which is fitted the cylindricalneck 32 of the guide member 34, the same being formed of non-conductivematerial. Guide member 34 has a guide passage 36 which receives thenon-conductive shank 38 of a push-pull member, including hand knob 40and a forward extending conductive blade 42. Shank 38 has a groove 44 onone side and an end of screw 46 carried by guide member 34 extends intosaid groove to act as a stop means or limiting member for determiningthe in and out sliding movement of shank 38.

Externally the neck 32 is provided with a groove 48 and a snap-ring 50fits in the groove 4-8 and lies against the rear face of the firewall 10preventing dislodgment of the guide member from the port 11 in thefirewall. It will be noted that body 34 is shouldered on the engine sideand is disposed in shoulder abutting relationship against the other orengine face of the firewall 10.

A non-conductive U-shaped bridge 50 is mounted on the engine wall in aposition to span the blade 42 and is there secured by fastening bolts52, 52. Bridge member 50 is constructed of plastic non-conductivematerial and is designed to have substantial rigidity and strength. Thebridge 50 carries a pair of metallic jaw members 54, 54 which are spacedapart with relation to each other less than the thickness of the blade42. Members 54, 54 are mounted in alignment with blade 42 and have aninherent resiliency so that, when blade 42 is pushed forward tothe spacebetween the jaw members 54, 54, tight and effective contacts will bemade between said jaw members. The jaw members are secured to the bridgeby bolts 56, 56 and nuts 58 tighten the connector eyes 27 and 31 ofconductors 26 and 30 respectively through the bridge member.

In essence the novelty resides in the combination with a firewall of aninternal-combustion driven engine said firewall having a porttherethrough of a non-conductive guide member containing a slide membercarrying a circuit making blade. The firewall forms the essential basefor the push-pull circuit making member. A non-conductive bridgecarrying switch jaw spans the circuit making blade 42 and is mounted onthe engine side of the firewall. The conductors 26 and 23 are connectedto the jaws carried by the bridge 50 which is rugged to resist wear andtear caused by normal usage of the vehicle and which holds the jawmembers in a fixed position having been once properly mounted in thevehicle.

The foregoing is a description of the preferred embodiment of myinvention. It will, of course, be apparent to those skilled in the artthat modification and changes may be made without departing from thespirit of the in vention and I therefore reserve the right to make suchchanges and alterations as shall fairly come within the scope of theappended claims.

Having thus described my invention I claim:

1. In combination with the firewall of an internalcombustionengine-driven vehicle, said firewall having a port therethrough, anon-conductive tubular guide member disposed in said port to close thesame, means to retain said guide member in said port, a non-conductivepush-pull member slidably fitted to and disposed within said tubularmember to close the same, said push-pull member having a metallic bladeextending away from said firewall on the engine side thereof, saidpush-pull member also including a handle means on the other side of saidfirewall for manual manipulation of said push-pull member,non-eonductive means forming a bridge on the engine side of "aidfirewall spanning said guide member and blade. :1 r of metallic jawmembers mounted on said bridge in spaced apart relation to each otherless than the thickness of said blade and facing said firewall in aposition to receive and make a circuit through said blade upon its beingpushed toward said bridge, and an electric conductor associated witheach said jaw member.

2. The structure of claim 1 in which there is stop means between saidpush-pull member and the guide 5 member to limit movement of saidpush-pull member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,513,172 Hassay June 27, 1950

